Louise Thompson Finds Lost Engagement Ring, Jokes About Finally Getting Married

The ring Ryan Libbey had custom-built for Louise Thompson at a Mayfair jeweller went missing for more than two years. Back from a trip to Antigua, Thompson held it up on the couple's "He Said, She Said" podcast and delivered the line their listeners had been waiting years to hear: "Does this mean we need to get married?"

The piece is worth examining on its own terms. Libbey, a personal trainer and fitness entrepreneur, had worked with Sophie Lomax, Head of Design at 77 Diamonds, to create a bespoke ring in white gold centred on a cushion-cut diamond in the 2-carat range, framed by a halo of round brilliants. Lomax, a Professional Jeweller Young Designer of the Year, guided his stone selection with Louise's aesthetic in mind. "Ryan chose a cushion cut diamond, as this is a brilliant cut meaning it is one of the most sparkly cuts, while being very soft and feminine with rounded corners," Lomax said at the time of the August 2018 proposal. Ryan had enlisted Louise's brother and mother as co-conspirators, with her mother quietly confirming the ring size.

The couple had been together since around 2016 and originally planned a wedding for 2019, only to call it off six months before the date. The reasons became public in late 2021, when the birth of their son Leo Bear Libbey nearly cost Louise her life. She spent months hospitalised following the delivery, underwent multiple surgeries, and was subsequently diagnosed with PTSD. In "Lucky," her 2023 Penguin memoir, she documented that near-death experience and her slow return to physical and mental health, and she went on to campaign for a government-appointed maternity commissioner, arguing that the birth trauma she suffered was preventable.

Against that backdrop, the ring's two-year disappearance carried a particular weight. A wedding date had existed; then a medical crisis had erased it; then the ring itself vanished. When Thompson announced its recovery on the podcast, saying "I found my engagement ring," the moment landed as something larger than a misplaced piece of jewellery turning up. The couple, now both in their mid-thirties, have been engaged for nearly eight years.

The same episode found them doing something they have not had the luxury to do in some time: sketching out what a wedding might actually look like. Libbey talked about the Swiss Alps; Thompson considered a UK ceremony. Details of setting, season, and guest list remain open, which is perhaps the point.

The cushion-cut halo ring, designed to reflect what Lomax called "Louise's effortless style," sat somewhere unfound while Thompson rebuilt her health, published a book, and raised a son. Its return, timed to a holiday and announced on a podcast built around candour, suggests the couple are finally ready to move the conversation on from survival to celebration.